Connected
by Zaynla
Summary: After crashing on Earth in a non-Irken ship, Zim's PAK, along with many of his tools, translator, and memories, are damaged. With no prior knowledge as to why he's there, and a malfunctioning PAK that seems to have a mind of its own, he meets Dib and Gaz, two kids left alone after their dad disappears. Can Zim eventually regain his memories, and the real reason behind his arrival?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fanfiction!**

**Zim is pretty OOC, obviously, so if you don't like it, then don't read. The rest of the characters might be a little OOC, but not much. (hopefully)**

**Please read and review! I'll try and have a new chapter posted soon.**

**I don't own Invader Zim or anything associated with it. I also don't own that picture.**

**Chapter 1**

_'We can't afford to let them-' A voice from somewhere started and then cut off by mumbling. Most of what was heard couldn't be understood._

_'They'll just-'_

_'We have one to spare. We need to make sure they don't get their hands on that.'_

_The world around him spun. He was thrown around carelessly and then was thrown into something dark. The walls rumbled. Instantly he realized it was a ship. Headed for nowhere._

When the ship had smashed on the ground, it didn't just stop. It skidded and slid, and managed to fall off a small cliff in the process, effectively smashing the screen on the top of it. The edges of the small blue ship were melting off. Awakening a few seconds later was a small, green creature, which pulled himself out of the wreckage, relatively unharmed. It was a cloudy day, and the smoke from the wreckage rose up into the air, gathering into grey clouds among the white ones. Still a little wobbly from the shock, Zim staggered over to a nearby tree and leaned against it. He looked around warily. No foreign creature in sight. The smouldering wreckage sparked and smoked. He shifted his eyes from tree to tree, until settling on a nearby city in the distance.

_Is this…? I've never seen a planet like this before… At least, I don't think I have…_

Immediately he sensed something missing. He couldn't remember certain things. Things that seemed important were gone. It was impossible to get amnesia from hitting his head, because all memories were stored on the PAK. This meant…

He looked behind himself. A large dent was in the side of the PAK, making it look off-kilter. The damage must have caused the memory loss. Also, he noticed that the PAK wasn't doing anything to help him or his injuries, despite how minor they were. Usually it would be murmuring different thoughts into his head as it tried to detect anything wrong, but it was dead silent in the area.

_What if it just needs energy? _Zim thought. Was there even power on this planet? Everything seemed so foreign, and he felt so sluggish, like he had been asleep for _much_ longer than he thought.

_Why am I here in the first place? I can't remember much…_

He went over to the wreckage, looking for something he could salvage. It seemed like there was nothing better to do in the situation. Nothing in the ship was Irken, he discovered after searching through the rubble, making it pointless to search through. Sighing, he stood up and began walking towards the city, on the foreign planet, searching for something to help him.

"What a dreary day…" Dib mumbled to himself, staring out the window. The sun was just barely shining through the clouds outside, making the day look dull. The night was soon to come.

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He was alone in his room, which he had to share with Gaz, much to his dismay. The home he was staying in didn't have very many rooms, and there always had to be space for any new arrivals. When he and Gaz had arrived, they were soaked in the rain, and looked absolutely pitiful. But Ms. Bitters doesn't care about pity or anything silly like that. She hates her job running the place.

Not many kids came through. There used to be a red haired girl that he remembered, but she got kicked out for singing too much. Right now, there was only him, Gaz, and Zita, another girl. She wasn't that good of a friend though, so he never thought about her.

Even though they moved in and lost a lot of things, Dib still loved to study the paranormal. He had a small TV that he used for watching what little shows he could, which wasn't many, but didn't mind. He still had a laptop that he used to watch for different paranormal things and subjects. People didn't understand that he _wasn't _crazy, and that the things he blabbed about were true. Even the aliens part.

The boy in the trench coat stood, glancing around the room. Seeing nothing better to do amidst the piles of books on his bed, he decided to go to the New Year's celebration downtown. Usually it was really annoying there because everyone was loud and obnoxious, but Gaz was probably already there.

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While ducking behind trees to hide from any passerby, Zim noticed a giant, fenced off area where tall electrical devices stood. Relieved, he started running towards it. _This must be where the power is…_

He looked at the city again. He was closer to it now, and could make out the different buildings. He also noticed that it spread out to be _very _large. He now noticed the moving creatures walking around. It was like a swarm.

When he got to the fence, it was very tall in comparison to the Irken. No longer able to use his spider legs (They were jammed somehow), he tried to climb the fence. When he reached the top, he realized that he still couldn't get through due to the very sharp razor wire strung around it. _Why is it so well protected? This is annoying._

He dropped down softly and began to pace around the fence, looking for openings. It was closed up pretty well except for a giant gate, which he couldn't break into because, again, his PAK would not respond. It was getting darker. Light-sensitive lamps lit up around the fence, making it easier to see.

_What am I supposed to do when I can't remember why I'm here, and my PAK is broken? Are the people here hostile?_

The stranded Irken sat on the grass, head in his hands, thinking, trying to remember. Nothing surfaced. Just blankness and a few useless old memories. He was silent for a few minutes until a high-pitched and very annoying voice startled him.

"HI! Who're you?" The voice shouted. In the silence the voice resonated, making it even more annoying to hear.

Zim froze. He slowly took his hands off his face, looking up in the direction of the voice. In the dim light, he saw a smiling green creature with its tongue sticking out. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Hello?!" The green thing shouted again and continued smiling.

Zim attempted to say something but quickly realized that another thing was missing; his ability to translate his own words into other languages through his PAK. Talking at all right now would only sound like gibberish. Instead he nodded at the thing in understanding.

"Are you homeless? I have a bunch of trash I keep in a GIANT pile somewhere! You can live in the trash with me! We'll be TRASH BUDDIES!" The creature shouted enthusiastically. It pulled off its weird costume to reveal it was a little robot with blue eyes.

Trash…buddies…? What did that even mean? Was he a malfunctioning robot that belonged to someone? Why wasn't he taking notice of his appearance? Or were the people of this planet used to other species? _Maybe he can help me get to the power station._

The small Irken pointed to the giant devices surrounded by a fence. The little robot looked at them. "OOH! Those are shiny, huh?"

Zim got up and walked over to the fence, shaking it. He looked back at the robot, antennae pointed upwards in expectation.

"Oh, you wanna see the cool power thing?! I been there, but me and my trash weren't allowed to be around." The blue-eyed device walked over to the fence and climbed it, easily getting to the top and over the razor wire, and then started to tear the wire off excitedly. He was surprisingly strong, and ripped it clean off. Some of it tore his little costume, but he didn't seem to mind. While Zim climbed carefully over the fence, the robot looked at the city and the lights that had started to shine around.

"Somebody's havin' a PARTY! Lookit the color lights!" He giggled.

Zim rolled his eyes. _This robot is downright idiotic._

"Ooooh yeahhhh! I'm GIR! That doesn't stand for anything; it's just that I dress up like a dog sometimes to make children cry, and that's the sound dogs make!"

_What in the world is a dog…?_ Zim thought. He dropped down and looked around. Nobody but the weird robot was there. Everyone must be at that gathering thing they were doing. The electricity towers were extremely tall in comparison to him.

_I wonder if there's anywhere to connect to other than the bare metal or wires…_ He scanned around them cautiously. He found a box with several sockets, some filled and some not.

Without any thought or command, his PAK extended cords which jammed into the control box, sinking into it. Energy coursed up the cords and into his PAK. GIR, seemingly unfazed, smiled and shouted, "When you're done, let's go be trash buddies!"

The amount of energy pouring from the box was overwhelming. _I think that's enough… _the Irken thought to himself. He tried to tell the PAK to stop charging. Instead of decreasing, the energy absorbance increased, making Zim twitch with surprise.

_Hey! Quit it or-_

The lamps around the fence began to flicker. He turned to each of them worriedly. The bright and shining city in the distance started to lose its brightness.

_I'm taking control of their power system? My PAK won't listen to me, but for some reason I don't really seem to mind. Did this used to happen before my memory was damaged?_

The memories were still really fuzzy. _Stop taking all the energy! We don't need it, and it'll only draw attention to us! What's the point?_

The PAK slowed down its power absorbance but didn't let up. The lights in the distance flickered and began to die. Wires that connected to the city from the power station started to fall onto the ground, sparks flying. GIR watched with sadness.

"Why would you kill the pretty lights…?" The small robot sobbed.

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Dib pushed through the crowd, looking for Gaz. Everyone was wearing stupid costumes. The city was lit up and colorful in excitement for the New Year. It also smelled.

He shoved though two fat women to see Gaz sitting on some bleachers playing her game as usual. He walked around piles of trash and cans to sit next to her. It was dark now, so the lights shone brighter.

"Ugh, I hate this day of the year. It's the worst one, and the last one." Gaz mumbled under her breath.

Dib nodded in agreement. "Yeah… but why did you come to the party then?" He looked back at her.

"Because, I haven't been to this stupid party ever since Dad took us that one time. It's kind of nostalgic."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it is. But that was when we were really little, so I don't remember it much." He looked around at the crowd of screaming people.

"But I still _hate _it! I think I'm gonna go home instead of sit here trying to beat the last level while these idiots scream and throw trash around like maniacs!" She closed her game and stood up, then started stepping down the stairs without saying anything more.

_She's so annoying sometimes…_ Dib thought to himself. But she was still his sister, even though she threatened him with death constantly.

It was half an hour until midnight. _I'll just stay until the party's over. Then I can go back to the room and stare out the window some more at that pile of trash and-_

A power line fell onto the street, just barely missing several people. Sparks flew and electricity could be seen still coursing through it. Lights all around the area dimmed. The crowd gasped and backed away from the power line.

The boy in the trench coat stood up instantly with surprise. A downed power line in the middle of a party? Just randomly like that? He quickly stepped down the stairs to inspect it.

The power line danced on the ground like a snake. Dib got dangerously close to it, inspecting it. The line looked like it had been overloaded, like energy had suddenly been sent through it and made it explode off the tower that hung above them. Not surprisingly, the crowd had already started shouting again, probably expecting other people to clean it up for them. _Idiotic people._

With a hunch on why the power line did this, Dib walked down the street until the giant power station was in sight on the hill. The lights were flickering and dimming over there, too, and a faint, unnatural light could be seen. It was almost… greenish?

_I have to go see what's going on. Maybe some idiot got through the fence and started messing with things._

He started running down the street excitedly. Things like this didn't happen every day, so if he could stop some sort of crime, of course he was going to try! He was perfectly capable. After all, he was a member of a top secret paranormal society. He's seen tons of creepy things, so it wasn't like anything was going to surprise him…


	2. Chapter 2

**Mkay, I finished the next chapter! I should have had it done two days ago, but I got caught up in things.**

**I don't own Invader Zim or anything related to it, neither do I own that picture of a PAK.**

_Chapter Two_

The excess energy caused Zim's PAK to start glowing, along with his skin, faintly.

In a panic, he started to pull on the wires that connected him to the energy box. It was in vain, however, because the cords had sunk in deep with the claws that were at the ends of them. GIR, noticing his struggle, attempted to help. He grabbed the wires with his stubby arms and tried pulling too. It helped a little, but the cords would still not budge.

"Why did you get yourself stuck to a box?! I once got stuck in a drier, but never tied to a box!" GIR shouted enthusiastically.

In a last attempt effort to disconnect himself, Zim dug his heels into the dirt and pulled with all his might, commanding the PAK to let go. He was practically screaming in his mind, gritting his teeth.

The claws that dug into the box loosened, and with an additional few pulls, they relented, sending both Zim and GIR flying backwards. The cords retracted back into the metal device on his back. Zim stared at the sky, relieved.

"See?!" GIR squealed. "I got out of the drier after about 5 hours, so I was sure that you could escape the box sooner or later."

Zim glanced at the little robot on his left, sitting up. The robot's blue eyes turned cheerful and he smiled at him.

_Stupid robot-thing. I'm not your "trash buddy", so why won't you leave me alone?!_

The lights everywhere continued to flicker erratically afterwards, so it looked like the power lines had been seriously damaged.

_Not my problem. I have to find a place with tools so I can try and find out what's wrong with my PAK. _

The excess power was still making his PAK glow pink. His skin as well was faintly glowing. GIR looked overly excited when he eventually noticed this. He poked his skin and giggled every time.

The air started to get cold, occasionally blowing a breeze through the fence and to them. Dust blew in the air, reminding GIR of his trash pile, all alone in the alley. He stopped giggling and poking Zim.

"When can we go to my trash pile…?" GIR asked sadly, wiping away sudden tears. "I miss my trash pile…"

Zim, overwhelmed by GIR's stupidity and his own situation, turned to him angrily.

"Look, I don't _care _about your trash pile, okay?!" He yelled. Except the robot obviously had no idea what he had just said, because he started grinning like an idiot again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Running down the road as fast as he could, Dib jumped over a small fence and dodged a few trees before arriving pretty close to the giant fence surrounding the power station. A lamp's bulb exploded and fell onto the ground, sparking and smoking. Determined to see who was doing this on one of the craziest holiday nights of the year, he started to sneak towards the fence.

As he neared, he saw where the faint green light was coming from. A figure, hunched over, sitting and staring off into space while a little robot talked to him.

_What the heck…? _He narrowed his eyes to try and get a better look through his thick glasses. The robot did a little dance in an apparent attempt to cheer the figure up, but he didn't move.

_Looks like he's… glowing…? _Dib stared, confused at the strange scene before him. He tried to get even closer, but stepped on a twig, alerting the robot of his presence. He cringed.

"Oh, it's big-head coat guy!" GIR laughed insanely and waved at Dib's silhouette in the darkness. He bent down to whisper to Zim. "I'll be back, trash buddy! Maybe the big-head can cheer you up!" He skipped off towards Dib, making squeaky noises when he stepped.

The Irken growled in annoyance, and then looked behind him to see who "big-head" was. A silhouette about as tall as himself, maybe a little taller. He was wearing a trench coat.

The robot skipped to the fence and grinned at Dib, leaning forward. Dib didn't really know the robot, other than sometimes seeing him outside his window in a trash pile, in a green dog costume.

"My trash buddy got stuck to a box, big-head! Then he got sad! Could you cheer him up?!" GIR whispered softly, like it was some sort of top secret information. He looked back and forth like he was confirming no one was listening in.

Not knowing what to make of the figure, or the robot asking him to help his "trash buddy", whatever that meant, Dib started to walk around the fence, trying to get to the other side of the figure to see him better through the strange glow.

When he could fully make out what the robot had been talking about, Dib stood there, awestruck. A faintly glowing creature with a metal device attached to its back. It was definitely not human, seeing as it had antennae pressed against its head. It, or most likely he, was watching him, keeping his eye on him without turning his head. He was clearly suspicious of what his next action would be.

_Is this thing… an alien?_

The thing that could _finally _prove that he's not crazy? He had always believed in Bigfoot and ghosts and everything, and had even seen them a few times, but those things were taken as myths by everyone. Aliens couldn't really be disproven. He had never seen an alien, but always hoped he could, so he could bring back evidence of their encounter.

_What should I do…?_ He wondered.

The Irken stood up and brushed off his pink uniform. The person staring at him weirdly was probably a member of this planets species, and they didn't look very threatening. But by the way he looked at him, they weren't used to other species.

_It must be a remote planet… _Zim thought. They stared at each other for a while.

Eventually Dib got out of his awestruck trance and managed to raise his hand to wave. It was an awkward wave, and wasn't able to be seen very well through the fence and the darkness, but he didn't know what else to do in the strange situation he had found himself in. He had so many questions, but had to keep them to himself.

Zim noticed the wave, but didn't say or do anything. He continued to watch him carefully. GIR, getting restless in the moment, started playing in the dirt with a bug.

The Irken, not being able to explain about the power thing anyway due to his lack of speech and simply not knowing what had happened himself, turned away and began walking towards the fence on the opposite side so he could climb over it. Dib watched, seeing his big chance just walk away, and stood there, watching him while trying to find the courage to yell at him.

"Uh…erm…" He stammered, lifting a finger as if to try and stop him. "H-hey! Where are you going?!"

He ran alongside the fence to follow him, standing right underneath the alien as he climbed the fence and dropped down next to him softly. GIR followed suit, scaling the fence and landing on Zim's back, laughing. He winced.

"A-are you… um…" Dib managed to get out. He was trying not to seem stupid while talking to a most likely much more intelligent being than him from another world, but he knew he sounded like an idiot. He stopped talking and just stared at him some more up and down.

_Creepy._ Zim narrowed one eye at him before briskly turning around and walking off, GIR still clinging to his back. The faint glowing on his skin began to wear off slowly.

Dib blinked as he watched him walk away. _Where is he going?_ _Back to base? I can't just follow him can I? Why did he do that to our power lines? To disrupt the New Year's Celebration? But why? How? Is he going to invade us? I have to stop him!_

His mind swarmed with questions, blocking out any other thoughts. Before he knew it, the alien was gone, disappeared somewhere into the distance.


End file.
